Tea is often referred to as the great connector. The leaves of this extraordinary tree connect both individuals and cultures to one another. Through a mindful daily tea practice, we find a deeper connection to our inner lives, our conscience, our deeper inspirations and aspirations, our aesthetic sensibilities, and to the moment at-hand. This moment is in fact the only moment we have, for it is within this moment that our lives exist. How could it be otherwise? Are we to find the essence of our lives in our memories of the past or anticipation of the future? Tea teaches us to slow down and pay attention, to be present, to take in more of life, and to respond with bright wakefulness. Art curator and author of the classic Book of Tea, Okakura Kakuzo, beautifully articulates the ways in which tea is more than a casual beverage:
“The philosophy of tea is not a simple aesthetic in the ordinary meaning of the term, for it allows us to express, together with ethics and religion, our entire concept of man and nature. It is a form of hygiene because it requires us to be clean; it is an economy, for it shows that well-being lies in simplicity rather than in complexity and expenditure; it is a moral geometry, for it defines our size in relation to the universe. Finally, it represents the true democratic spirit of the Far East in that it transforms all its enthusiasts into aristocrats of taste.”
After many years of living a life of tea, I believe this mysterious tree has the power to transform the world. At its most immediate level, tea is a beautiful way to pass the time with another person. At its deepest level, the Way of Tea outlines a way of life that connects us to our most essential self within the larger context of Nature. Just as tea has emerged in many forms through myriad facets of human life, so too has it attracted an incredibly diverse cast of characters whose love of the leaf borders on obsession. This mysterious leaf has travelled a long, vast and profound road through history; a path filled with adventure, intrigue, thievery, warfare, social revolution, caravans and cavalcades, currency and embargoes, fortunes gained and lost, friends and enemies, artistic expression, philosophical explorations and at its misty-peaked heights, spiritual enlightenment.
While in the Western world we relate to tea as a casual beverage, China and Japan have long held traditions that reverentially regard Camellia Sinensis in a different light. The Book of Tea begins with the statement, “Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage.” We have explored tea as medicine in previous seasonal offering, but ultimately the medicinal qualities of tea transcend biochemical benefits. As plant medicine, Taoist herbalists hail tea as a spirit or Shen tonic for its ability to clear the mind, open the heart, settle the soul and illuminate one’s essence. Zen masters and spiritual aspirants use tea to maintain a state of calm alertness during long hours of meditation. Artists and cultured individuals relate to tea as a means of expressing a living art, a moving painting, an experiential awakening to beauty, nature and one another. And while it isn’t our primary focus with tea, health enthusiasts exalt tea as a powerful antioxidant, detoxifier, digestant and gentle stimulant.
Pin Ming Lun Dao is a commonly used Chinese phrase, which means to discuss and understand Dao through the taste of tea. For thousands of years in China, all great discussions of the Tao, or the deeper questions of life, have taken place at the tea table. The tea ceremony has long been regarded in Asia as a means of connecting with the essential in Life and Nature, with symbolic images and punctuations in the ceremony drawing the participants into a primordial space of connection to one another and the plant world. And while the history and lore of Tea paints a remarkably rich picture of what it means to live a Life of Tea- one with clear principles, practices, methodologies and traditions- one can still deeply engage the Leaf beyond a teabag in a mug without these superfluous details. Inherent in the Leaf is a reminder of the intertwining relationship between meditation, tea, and enlightenment- Tea cannot be described in words, but only tasted directly right here and now.
As the great connector, perhaps more than anything, Tea carries the power to connect us to Nature. As we enter the third Spring offering of the seasonal tea club, we return to the ways in which tea connects us to the harmonious and inexorable cycle of the seasons. We encourage you to consult the Living Tea blog to explore the topics presented in the first two years, including our relationship to changing seasonal climates and their impact on our health, foods and herbs to support seasonal transitions, and the influence of specific flavors in teas. Our second year focused more extensively on the psychosomatic aspects of the seasons and ways to utilize the energies of each season in one’s personal growth, as well as the teas that support these efforts. This year, we are reflecting on tea within the larger cultural context and the methods for deepening your tea practice.
While a thorough review of the complex history of tea exceeds the scope of this offering, we can offer some reflections on tea’s place in the world today. Until the Industrial Revolution, which began in the second half of the 18th century, the entire history of humankind was fueled by one source: plants. Our only conversion tool was the natural process of metabolism in both humans and animals. Even when consuming meat, we were consuming animals that consumed plants, so we might as well have been consuming plants. Almost all activity through history came from solar energy, captured by plants and converted into muscle power. This significantly limited the amount of work that could get done, the amount of products that were produced, and the types of work required of us in order to feed ourselves. Human history was therefore dominated by two main cycles: the growth cycles of plants and the changing cycles of solar energy (day and night, summer and winter). Energy conversion was limited by the availability and predictability of energy sources. Trees were not always available to burn for heat and cooking. Wind wasn’t always blowing to sail ships, and watermills were only useful if you lived near a river. More importantly, we didn’t know how to convert one type of energy to another. This cycle is eloquently elucidated in Yuval Noah Harari’s masterpiece, Sapiens.
Around 1700, the British steam engine used in mineshafts was gradually repurposed and connected to looms and gins. This revolutionized textile production, making Britain the workshop of the world. As humans realized that they could convert one form of energy to another, a profound transformation occurred that would irrevocably change society. Before long, hand production methods were replaced with machines, new chemical manufacturing processes emerged, steam and water power were revolutionized, and we saw the birth of the mechanized factory system. Population growth exploded, global trading empires became technologically refined and grew exponentially, and industrial production methods became the mainstay of agriculture. With so many people released from agricultural work, factories and offices filled with workers who produced an unbelievable array of products, built more structures in big cities and created an economy where supply outstripped demand. This societal change fueled a capitalist economy where the new ethic of consumerism was and still is conditioned into us from a young age. Industrialists, investors, ad agencies, marketers, social media, and technology in general insist that the real value we hold, our true identity, is defined by how much and how well we consume.
The replacement of the rhythms of traditional agriculture with the uniform and precise schedule of industry has changed even the way we relate to time. We live on a mechanized schedule, waking up with the alarm, brushing our teeth for three minutes until the toothbrush beeps, rushing out to get to work on time, working out for forty-five minutes then rushing home to catch the 7 P.M. show. This way of living would have been unimaginable to humans before the modern age. Teahouses are places to unplug from the mechanized, time-table world, and it’s easy to “loose track of time” during a tea session. Teahouses are places intended for deeper connection with others and the wonderful world of trees through tea. In addition to the change in our relationship to time, and more significantly, the family and local community was replaced with the state and the market. As Harari points out, “Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the daily life of most humans ran its course within three ancient frames: the nuclear family, the extended family and the local intimate community. Most people worked in the family business… the family was the welfare system, the health system, the education system, the construction industry, the trade union, the pension fund, the insurance company, the radio, the television, the newspaper, the bank and the police” (Sapiens, 356). Now, strong families and communities have been replaced with a strong state and market. The individual, with his/her preferences and impulses, is superior to the community. Even the consumer tribe trumps nationalism. Of course there are benefits to these changes like less violent crime, less war, and greater “physical” health, but what have we lost in the wake of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions?
What, you might be be asking, does any of this have to do with tea? This is a theme that will be explored over the course of the coming year. Because we turn the tap and water comes out, or flip a switch and lights turn on, we’ve forgotten our true relationship to Nature. We don’t pay attention to the seasons much beyond fashionable changes in the clothes we wear. We can eat Brazilian mangos while watching television in our New York apartment during a December snowstorm. Concrete and plastic shopping centers have destroyed habitats while species go extinct. Where will medicines come from when the flowers, trees, vines, grasses, bushes and wild creatures are gone? Even plants and animals have been mechanized. Nowadays, animals are mostly mass-produced in factory-like facilities, their bodies shaped in accordance with industrial needs. Peter Wohlleben, the New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees, writes that he came under criticism because his language is too emotional. As a scientist, he was criticized because his descriptions make plants and animals seem human, which is not “scientifically correct.” He responded by asking, “Can a language stripped of emotion even be called a human language? Are descriptions of nature only reliable when all processes are presented in biochemical terms and are dissected so precisely that you get the impression that plants and animals are fully automatic, genetically programmed biological machines? After all, it would be possible to describe all our own feelings and activities that way, yet that would in no way describe what’s going on inside us and what enriches our lives. It is more important to me to state the facts so that people can understand them emotionally, And then I can lead them on a full sensory tour of nature, because that way I can communicate one thing above all: the joy our fellow creatures and their secrets can bring us” (The Secret Wisdom of Nature 236).
Tea presents a unique opportunity to bring together multiple disciplines and worlds of inquiry. We can explore tea’s flavors, aromas, textures and brewing methods through our senses. We can study the scientific process of the growth in trees, or the influence of polyphenols and catechins in both the flavor and health benefits. We can observe the subtle influences in the ways that different teas affect our moods and emotions. Studying tea can be an intellectual, emotional, sensory, scientific, conceptual, abstract, artistic and even spiritual exploration.
The fundamental issue amidst all of these social observations is a lack of connection to the truth, which is that we are inextricably interdependently utterly enmeshed in nature. We are not separate from nature. What we do to the earth, we do to ourselves. As tea teacher Wu De likes to say, “the earth peopled.” We came up and through Nature. We are nature. Separation is an illusion. We act as if nature, society and economy are siloed or somehow separate, when in fact society is nested within Nature, and economy within society. We believe that Nature simply contains resources that we can exploit to make life faster, more efficient, more convenient, more profitable, rather than a treasure trove of medicine and wisdom. Reverently observing the natural rhythms, relationships and patterns of nature unlocks infinite mysteries that can teach man how to live with greater skill, wisdom and compassion.
The intensely rapid development of technology is feeding on our most precious asset, our attention. Tea can significantly help us to address many of the aforementioned issues that we collectively face in the metamodern age. Tea helps us to: develop greater attention and focus within the present moment, alleviate the anxiety caused by technology, develop closer local relationships, appreciate the changes that come with seasonal tea harvests and the changing seasons, recognize traditional cosmological and seasonal rhythms, explore creative and healthy outlets within our fast-paced world, detoxify the body and explore a healthy alternative to the social lubricant of alcohol, connect with trees and nature within cities where we are increasingly estranged from the natural world, and cultivate a mindfulness practice as a beginning of meditation. Finally, tea can help us develop patience, reverence and discipline. These are but a few of the myriad benefits of tea. We will explore the Six Sacred Cups of Tea in greater detail with the remaining two tea clubs this year: Meditation, Vitality, Virtue, Tradition, Methodology and Community.
SPRING TEA COLLECTION
Living Tea seeks out farms or wild tea gardens that have a healthy, reverent relationship to all aspects of tea production. The following are qualities of a Living Tea: seed propagation instead of trees from grafted clippings with shallow roots, plenty of room for the trees to grow instead of tight rows like you see on tea plantations, biodiverse growing regions instead of clear-cut mountainsides or valleys, growing practices that avoid all chemicals including pesticides, chemical weed-killers and fertilizers, no irrigation, and living wages for all employees.
For a tea person, this time of the year marks a shift in lifestyle, activity, and orientation. We gradually transition from dark, earthy, grounding brews into lighter, floral, uplifting teas. Green and white teas, aged red teas, and young to mid sheng Puerhs are ideal for early Spring, while Qimen red teas, Baozhong, Dan Cong and Yencha Rock oolongs come out later in Spring. We generally explore more gongfu cha, brewing these delicate teas in small zisha pots with small porcelain cups, honing the craft of the perfect brew. We also enjoy early morning bowl tea sessions with large-leaf loose teas. This important time of the year is about growth, expansion, and creativity. Having conserved and cultivated our inner reserves during the winter, we welcome the lush growth of spring through sweet, opening, ethereal teas.
We recommend using 3-4 g. of tea per session, or simply, use enough leaves to lightly cover the bottom of the pot. For Satori and Ruby Red, we recommend brewing with water between 200 and 210 D Fahrenheit, just shy of a rolling boil, pouring off the first flash steeping to “awaken the leaves.” For Skyward, we recommend brewing between 190 and 200 D. Brew the first five to six steepings for very short periods (2-4 seconds). The practice of short steepings is different than European tea whereby you steep the tea for a long time. Satori is an aged shou puerh, which is technically more of a winter tea. We included it because it’s an extraordinary tea, ideal for the month of February before spring really begins, and also because the sweetness, unusual for a shou, hints at the coming spring. We enjoy the large leaves of Ruby Red directly in a bowl, which means adding a small amount of leaves to a tea bowl and simply adding water by pouring into the side of the bowl, not directly onto the leaves. Ruby Red is the most uplifting of the teas, and ideal for morning sessions during the month of March. Skyward is a rare, floral cliff tea from Fujian Province. This is a quintessential Spring tea, best brewed gongfu with a small cup and pot so as to concentrate the beautiful aroma and subtle flavors. We were only able to include three teas this season because both Satori and Skyward are quite rare and very expensive. We hope you appreciate quality over quantity this Spring, and welcome your feedback.
Satori – Old-growth Shou Puerh Blend
Yunnan, China – Early 90’s - 49 g
Small curly-cue leaves from old-growth wild trees. The liquor has dark golden-red edges around a deep, umber brown with an earthy aroma. This tea is remarkable because it has qualities of the five elements as well as other categories of tea. One can detect the minerals of a nice Yencha, the sheng jin (moistness) of Liu Bao Black tea, the buttery sweetness of an aged Shou Puerh, the tannin-rich slight bitterness of a fine Red Tea. The tea splashes to the upper palette and coats the entire mouth and throat, both characteristics of fine tea and healthy trees. A sweet fragrance or Hui Tian rises on the breath in the aftertaste. In terms of flavor, one can taste flowers "in the distance," damp soil and leaves after the rain, and hints of sweet sticky rice. We particularly enjoy the balanced camphor flavors, marks of well-aged shou puerh. Satori is beautifully balanced between yin and yang, moving evenly through the body and opening the emotions, leaving you feeling calm and focused throughout the day.
Ruby Red - Da Ye Native Taiwan Red Tea
Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan 2019 – 56 g
Hand-processed in the traditional way for the first time last year, this Ruby Red is an exceptional large-leaf red tea from Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan. Rich, full-bodied, smooth and complex, Ruby Red carries a bubblegum sweetness and less maltiness than Formosa Assam. It is comprised of a hybrid mixed Burmese Assam plant with a native wild Taiwanese plant, yielding what feels like red tea but also embodies elements of a fine Taiwanese Oolong. One notable quality of Ruby Red is the way that it leaves the drinker salivating between steepings and desiring more, both signs of a fine tea. Also, Ruby Red is refreshing and uplifting, ideal for morning bowl sessions and sharing with loved ones.
Skyward - Ban Tian Yao Wuyi Oolong
Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province, China 2019 - 35 g
“Waist halfway to the Sky” is the translation of Ban Tian Yao, which refers to the narrow passages between the cliffs where this tea was first grown in the Wuyi Mountains. This is a very rare Wuyi tea, difficult to harvest and traditionally processed by hand. The traditional roast over charcoal imparts a slight smokiness underneath complex floral, fruit and fig flavors. The tea is dried and withered in bamboo trays and finally roasted over charcoal fire in bamboo baskets. There is a true art to the complexity of processing these famous trees (Min Cong). This is one of the finest examples of Fujian Oolong we’ve yet encountered, and we’re overjoyed to share it this season. Spring tea at its absolute finest.
WE DEEPLY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS